>> welcome to al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey. here are the stories we're following for you. merrill newman, the man being held by north korea, is returning home. and there are many tributes for the south african leader nelson mandela. >> the american war veteran retained by north korea since october is due to arrive inwe'rt

community where newman was ma wr thanksgiving, but he'll be home for the holidays. when he first made the trip to north korea he could not have imagined how difficult of a trip it would turn out. but now he'll return to the u.s. a great relief for his family. >> i'm very glad to be home. i'm appreciate the government to allow me to be on my way. >> i offered him a ride home but he pointed out there is a direct flight to san francisco, his

home. i don't blame him. i would be on that flight, too. >> newman was a soldier in the korean war and his visit was a long-planned vacation down memory lane. but he was no order soldier. the north koreans released this confession, likely forced by newman, admitting his afill ways with the white tigers. for newman the war is history. but for north koreans, newman was an enemy of the state. the two countries never signed a peace treaty, and tec technicaly still at war and his release would need the permission of kim

jong-un. >> we ask you give him time to be with his family. we askl be moments before he's reunited with family and back at home. >> i'm sure it will be a scene once he arrived there. let's talk about the timing of his release, the timing happening all while vice president biden was in the region. although he said, i had no direct connection to this happening. give us a background, context for this. is a coincidence? >> well, it appears to be a very strong coincidence. you can imagine with vice president biden in agency, he might be involved in the

negotiations in the release of merrill newman. but he said he was not involved in the negotiations. he was in south korea. china is viewed as the country with the largest potential to influence north korea. it is north korea's closest ally but it is for assistance on the case concerning merrill newman. >> tell us more about why the north koreans would have number of american soldiers who fought in the korean war have gone back to north korea and have not created an incident in which the north koreans felt they should detain these soldiers. but merrill newman was not an ordinary soldier.

he was guerrilla fighters. >> he's on his way home and we anticipate he'll be home very shortly. assuring chuck hagel that the security agreement will be signed in a timely fashion. hagel apprised early this morning, but afghan president

threw a wrench into negotiations after saying he would not sign the agreement until after that country's elections in sprin spring 2014. two days after nelson mandela's death vigils and memorials continue to grow. tomorrow the country begins an official week of mourning of their late president. sir, throughout the night from their perspective. every time i've spoken to you over the past few years the crowds get louder. they get morse more celebrateor. >> yes, you can hear how many people are chanting, praise for the father of this nation. how he transformed the country

and gave so many people, both black south africans and white south africans the opportunity to come through the modern world. there is really happiness. it's hard to describe it any other way. there is chanting. people are singing. there giving thanks. >> i would imagine there is pride. the funeral is more than a week away, nick. do we anticipate this type of energy and this type of crowds over the next several days as it transitions into an official time of mourning? >> reporter: i think i would..

they have no intention of going away. they have no intention of not celebrating this man's life, not thanking him for everything that he has done. this man, a patient man, they say thank you. and the funeral will be in southeast south africa where he was born. >> nick, thank you so much. the lasting legacy that nelson mandela leaves behind is raising the awarenes awareness of the h. a.i.d.s. crisis in south africa.

we're joined live villa skype from cape town. thank you for joining us. let's talk about nelson mandela as it pertains h.i.v. a.i.d.s. he was not immediately on the forefront of this issue. >> well, initially, in 1994 there were clear indications of serious dedication to begin to address the very really challenges that the a.i.d.s. pandemic presented. however, he was also suspect to all kinds of social norms that precluded the discussion of h.i.v. on a public platform. during his political tenure president mandela discussed the platform rather than the h.i.v.

a.i.d.s. he grappled with having to speak about h.i.v. and grappled with the severe stigma that surrounded the disease as a sexually transmitted from the gay-plague in the united states. there were social norms, who could speak about it in south africa, and mandela was effected by those norms as anybody else would be. he would take stock of the incredible things he said during his very real social norms

about secrecy, stigma, regarding who can speak about what in the public sphere. >> talk to me about how significant it was. to lose his son to a.i.d.s. but then he publicly spoke about it. how significant was that? >> it was one of the most significant stands ever taken in south africa to start to confront the very real issue of h.i.v. stigma. he came out to say that his son had died of a.i.d.s. he began the action campaign and h.i.v. movement of activists to access treatment. it was a very significant statement against the silence of

people coming out and living openly with h.i.v. and talking about the platform. he came out and talked about those issues. he talked about his own and ourn experiences. but it took him quite awhile to do that. wasn't until many started to die from a.i.d.s. >> his public struggle is the same struggle that people suffered privately as well. thank you. >> thank you. >> when we come back, a deadly

virus, an uphill battle to find a vaccine for it.

every sunday night al jazeera america presents gripping films from the world's top documentary directors. an act of terror then a rush to justice for pan am flight 103. >> the eyes of the world will be on us. >> an investigation under scrutiny. >> it looks nothing like him. somebody's telling lies. >> this was a miscarriage of justice. >> did they get the wrong man? >> there's something else going on.

>> a shocking documentary event begins with: the pan am bomber on al jazeera america presents. >> in syria where people are being forced out of their country in droves, fighting threatens their safety, so does the lack of food. we have reports from the jordan-syria border. >> reporter: trickling down on foot from no man's land to jordanian territory. they've walked several kilometers in the cold and rain to get this far. eight-year-old from outside damascus arrived with her mentally challenged son. she said hunger and starvation brought her here. >> food supplies have been cut off. mills and bakeries have been destroyed. there is nothing to drink.

if people see bread, they bid on the leaves like at an auction. the refugees arrive with nothing but their identification documents and the coats on their backs. they have just experienced the longest and most dangerous journey to safety. >> they were turned away at the border because they did not have all their documents. now they do, and they're ready to move. >> i'm sure that it's better than living under airstrikes. we lost a lot of family members in syria. any life here is better thansiving in syria. >> reporter: syrians used to cross through jordan, but recent fighting has prevented thousands of crossing through. the safer but longer route is to across near iraq. this is why arrivals have

dropped from thousand toss hundreds during the month. it has been turning people away but they insist their borders are open. >> why have the the numbers dropped? i believe it's the situation of syria and not the jordanian border. >> as you can see this is a difficult location and people will find this is an easier place to come through. >> it will take up to four days for the refugees to get jeaned, registered, and their longer journey is one yet to start. and that's the search for dignity in exile. >> the ukraine are back on the streets after reports of the country's president and russian

president vladimir putin. thdemonstrations began three wes ago when the ukrainian president backed out of a deal with the e.u. the i.a.e.a. teams have arrived in tehran. rouhani defended the deal for reduced economic sanctions. he describe the pursuit nuclear technology was, quote a definite and feels that iran has the right to live without sanctions. >> china is on high alert. the "world health organization"

says since march of this year there has been a search for the bird flu in hong kong. >> when there is an infection. the infection is very serious. >> that's why hong kong has shut down it's poultry markets. while will is no evidence that the h 7 n 9 strain spreads from human to human. there are fears that i there isa potential for a pan democrat. >> okay. they're taking this very seriously. this strain of influenza of birds often does not make the birds sick. you can't follow the sick.

>> i see the front lines of vaccine research for the strain over in china funded by the national institute of health there is a team of a dozen doctors and scientists working to find a real vaccine to treat people around the world. >> dr. katherine edwards joined that search. >> the chinese were very good about sharing the virus with the with who and with the cdc so we could begin to grow the virus. >> reporter: they infected 200 people with the varying levels. that led to the development of a successful vaccine. while china is 800 miles away, a global flu pandemic could be on their door step at any time. >> it used to be that if something happened in china we wouldn't see it for a long time. but basically any of these

pandemics are a plane ride away. >> interest should be no fear. what americans should know is that the public health infrastructure that we have in the united states is alert to this. we're all tuned in. we're on top of this and watching it very carefully. >> as test trials get ready to begin, they should be able to ry should the strain begin to spread. a remarkable breakthrough in the treatment of cancer. >> just a miracle... >> people who had no hope now tell their extraordinary stories. >> i thought i was gonna die... on america tonight on al jazeera america

power of the people until we restore our fr

>> welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey. let's take a look the today's headlines. the memorials and vigils for nelson mandela continue to grow.

85-year-old merrill newman, army veteran, reportedly is back in the u.s. the plane he was due to be on from bane evening is expected no san francisco a while ago. he was detained in north korea. chuck hagel was assured that a pact with iran would be signed in the near future. major league soccer is adding fans in teens. we take a look at the sports league with a different kind of business model. >> james from salt lake city and kansas city prepare for the mls cup.

and in this league the match was a family battle. the entire league is a single business entity. >> we created the structure that allows us at a very high level to think of things that will help the game grow, and to try to avoid. >> it handles tale teams and it proves that it's working. >> i don't think you can find another soccer team in the world that can say the same thing. i believe we have one of the most competitive soccer leagues in the world. >> they're disciplined and organized and careful about how they spend money. the major league soccer has a

salary cap of $3 million. >> it can't touch the pay of the three big sports. the nfl salary cap is $123 million. pro basketball, $59 million. that's per team. the entire mls league wide payroll, $89 million according to the league office with each team allowed to over pay key players. >> the reality is that money talks. and players are, you know, are working towards their livelihood. they have limited careers they want to make as much money as possible and no one can fault them for that. >> the head of the mls players union said that they need to work with the league to play but next year when the contract is up they'll be negotiating hard

for significantly better pay. if revenues continue to grow as expected. >> reporter: another challenge for mls, negotiating a better broadcasting deal which is currently in the works. and making the onscreen product more attractive. >> tv ratings locally and nationally have not been good. >> if america continues to warm to the game, they have major goals for mls. ♪ >> meteorologist: it was a much cooler day across much of the country. check out the temperatures in minneapolis. only 2 degrees for the day high. across the east coast it's much cooler. but the rain, snow and ice has

departed. oh now cold air is rushing into the northeast, really setting us up for the next system that will publish through. right now across the southwest it's pushing across the valley and push to the east as it brings a little bit of rain to los angeles. this rain will continue to push into the southern portions of southern california. by tomorrow conditions improve, but be careful across i-5. we're going to see the snow across oklahoma city, down in dallas before it pushes to the east and then a mix of portions of the east coast. if you're traveling along i-81 wall the way into roanoke, we're looking for a mixture of snow, rain and ice. i think it's even going to push

into new york city. we can see one to two inches of snow even in our nation's capitol. we want to be careful again if we're traveling. yet it was 62 degrees in new york city, but the cold air is definitely going to take over. a knew lingering showers, but generally it will be a quiet day. back to the bitter cold across, minneapolis 2 degrees and minus 5 in fargo. >> thank you for watching al jazeera america. i'm richelle carey. the stream is next, and